Pokemon: A World Beyond
by Caj94
Summary: Jason Bailey has begun his journey. As he traverses the region of Matroh, he will face trial after trial to finally reach his goal, defeating Ash Ketchum in the master tournament this year. Has OC's and OP's! DawnXAsh. Will be a series.
1. A Boy and His Absol

His eyelids parted slowly as the bright morning sun intruded its rays through the windows. The fresh scent of Saturday air, mixed with the alluring aroma of his mom's homemade pancakes were more than enough to force Jason out of bed and down the stairs. There he greeted his mother the way he usually does on Saturdays, by munching down her fabulous cooking with ravenous hunger and determination.

"Well," she said sarcastically, "good morning to you too Jay-Jay!"

Jason took a break from his animalistic feast to glare at his mother, registering the much-hated nickname.

He groaned, "Mom I'm 15 now, if you hadn't noticed, I don't need t-"

"I'm just so proud of you honey!!!" She interjected, "I can't believe you're already 16! You're going to make a great pokecoord-"

"Mom, I already told you…" it was his turn to interrupt.

She pouted, "But…but it's so dangerous being a trainer…"

"I know mom, but it's my dream, I mean…Ash Ketchum's been the Pokémon master for over 6 years now! Someone has to beat him sooner or later, and I'm going to be that trainer!"

His mother sighed; she knew she wouldn't be able to talk Jason out of it; he'd been training his Pokémon for battles since he was 5.

"Well, if you're going to be a trainer, you're going to have to register with Prof. Ken and get a starter first."

Jason choked on his pancake bite, "But! But I don't need a starter! I've already got Shadow!"

"I know honey, but you can't enter any leagues unless you're registered, and _that_ won't happen unless you take a starter with you."

Jason groaned, "Fine, but it better get comfy in that pokeball, because I'll probably never use it." As he finished washing off what was left of his pancake genocide, his mom kissed him on the cheek, "Shadow's not gonna get you through everything Hun, it couldn't hurt to have a few more Pokémon with you."

The aspiring trainer couldn't help but smile, "We'll see Mom, we'll see."

After changing out of his pajamas, packing his gear for the road ahead, and wrestling himself out of his teary-eyed mother's crushingly heartfelt embrace, Jason walked outside and took a deep breath of the fresh Matroh air. He smiled, it all starts today. He puckered his lips together and let out a unique whistle that seemed to pierce through the air around him and faded as quickly as it came. Before he could even take another breath, Jason felt a familiar nudge against his leg. He looked down and his eyes met with those of his best friend and first Pokémon, Shadow, his Absol.

Jason grinned, "Hey there Shad! You sleep well?" His Pokémon smiled and nodded happily.

"Ab-Absol!"

"That's good," said the trainer as he scratched Shadow behind the ears.

As they started to make their way towards the Pokémon lab, Jason started talking to his favorite Pokémon, as he does often, "So Shadow, y'know I'm supposed to register as a trainer and stuff right?"

The Absol nodded at this curiously obvious question, something was up.

"Well, there's a problem…"

"Sol?"

"See, I can't register officially unless I take another Pokémon with me too, to join us…"

Shadow quickly became territorial, "Sol! Ab-sol! Sol!"

Jason rubbed his hand up and down his prized fighter's back, "Don't worry buddy, it's not replacing you, as long as we stay at the top of our game we won't even need it!"

Content, but still suspicious, Shadow nodded and walked on with his master towards the lab.

The Starbeach town Poke-lab is renowned as one of the best in the entire Matroh region, and today, it was opening its doors for eager wannabe-trainers ready to make their mark on the world. Once officially registered as a trainer, one is able to battle gym leaders and earn badges for entering Pokémon leagues and tournaments. After filling out and turning in a form, you are given a pokeball containing your starter Pokémon and three other empty pokeballs and are promptly sent on your journey.

Jason, being the eager beaver that he is, was among the first in line, he turned in his registration early so he simply needed to grab a "Starter bag" and be off. Luckily for him he already had his well trained Absol, so naturally he was pretty confident in his own abilities. As a bonus, his family was close with the head professor, Ken, so Jason was sure to have much more "luck" with the "random" starter he received.

He approached the counter that had the sign "Starter PKMN" above it, on the other side of the marble the professor was handing out bags to excited trainers.

"Hey there Ken, got any Fire-Types left, I could _really _use one." He said with a wink.

Ken smiled, "Sorry Jason, I appreciate your effort, but no special treatment."

With that, the busy professor handed him a bag curiously marked "Jason" and sent him off with some encouraging words.

As he exited the compound, Jason looks around the outside field where trainers were eagerly discovering what starters they had received. It was quite a sight. There were four trainers already trading Pokémon amongst themselves, a boy was cuddling with his Treecko against a large oak tree, two others attempting to battle their Piplup and Charmander, and still two more were yelling for one of the professors, apparently their Bulbasaurs had started mating.

He chuckled to himself, "Amateurs," he thought, "I could take every single one of you and have you crying back at home with ease." Despite the urge to ignore it and move on, Jason couldn't help but find out what his "Starter" was. He pulled out the pokeball marked with "S" and tossed it to the ground, the impact activating the release function on the sphere. The ball snapped open and a flood of light enveloped the nearby area in front of it. The light started to take form and eventually, a Shinx stood where the light was previously, smiling happily at its new master.

"SHI!"

Jason picked up this new addition to his team, no special treatment huh? The little electric Pokémon began to smile and laugh with what seemed to be careless joy, "Aww, it's kinda cute. What do you think we should name it Shadow?"

Jason's Absol was the least bit impressed by this little critter's apparent "cuteness", he grunted, "...Sol."

Jason put the Shinx on his shoulder, which promptly jumped atop its new master's head and nuzzled itself in Jason's jet black hair. It was asleep in seconds.

"Come on Shadow," Jason pleaded, "I told you he's not replacing you, and who knows, maybe you'll grow to like him, just give him a chance." Shadow, still unsure about this odd little puffball snoring soundly on Jason's head, nodded.

"Ab…sol…"

Jason smiled "Thanks bud, you're the best."

The now official Pokémon trainer looked up at the road ahead, route 316, the path to his first badge, and grinned with a fierce determination. He had been working since he was 5 to be a trainer, and chose when he was 10 to try and be the new Pokémon Master. Now here he stood, 16 years old and ready to start his journey.

He stepped on to the dirt road to Ishtale village, and walked, his closest partner Shadow by his side and his new party member Shinx asleep on his head.

And so the journey began.


	2. Girlfriends and Gust Badges

"When do you think he'll get here Pichu?"

"Pichu! Pichu-Pi!"

"I know, but he's leaving today and I wanted to surprise him!"

"Pi?"

"It _would _be fun traveling Matroh, seeing the sights, plus I don't think I could stand to be without him for God knows how long."

"Pichu, Pichu-pi!"

"Your right, but my mom won't let us-THERE HE IS!"

"PICHU!"

Rhean "Rhea" Whitepedal squealed at the sight of Jason, her boyfriend, walking towards them on the road to Ishtale village. She ran towards a surprised looking Jason and threw herself into his arms.

Jason, deeply confused, inquired "What are you doing here Rhea?"

The bubbly female almost missed the question she was so lost in his eyes, "I'm coming with you babe."

"But you're parents don't-"

"Screw my parents! I told them, no us, no me. So that's what they're getting!"

He couldn't help but smile, she was so beautiful…

She kissed him softly and looked him in the eye with that "Don't try to stop me" look. He sighed; this battle was one he couldn't win.

"You do realize," he said, "That there's no turning back, right?"

She smiled and hugged him, "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."

Jason rolled his eyes, "I'm drowning in melodrama! Help!"

His "humorous" remarks were rewarded with a punch to the arm. And pain, lots of it.

With laughter trailing off behind them, the love-struck trainers walked on their merry way to Ishtale village, where the first badge of the journey lies in wait.

Close behind them, Shinx and Pichu were playing happily atop the back of a very annoyed looking Absol, who hoped to Arceus that his master wouldn't catch anymore of these peppy little grievances. He grunted, "…Sol."

Ishtale village, AKA the village of wind, was known for it's specialty in bird Pokémon. More than that, however, it was known world wide as the village of arrogance, and sure enough it was. Everyone who lived there had the mindset that being able to live comfortably and adapt to such a windy climate meant you were some of the most skilled in the entire region. Sure it was admirable for one to live successfully in such a windy place, but these people felt that they were entitled to greatness in all fields.

The epitome of this self-absorbedness took the form of the village's local Gym Leader Ishmael. He was born as the next member in the line of gym leaders for the last century. While he had only been leader for the last 6 months since his father died, he so far had only been beaten a handful of times, most of them to money. His was a truly cocky nature, rivaled by none. He woke up today with a sense of happiness, for today was starter day, when a whole new batch of aspiring Trainers would come knocking at his door, practically begging to be beaten. It was his favorite day, probably better than Christmas.

He arrived at the gym, late as usual, and flopped down on his big soft chair, his arena stretched out in front of him leading to two double-doors where on the other side, his pupils were most likely already busy battling the new meats. He smiled, if his training got through to any of them, he might not have to crush any souls today. That's a pleasant thought, a day off.

His hopes were quickly smashed when one of his newer underlings came bursting through the door, "Mr. Ishmael…sir?"

The leader was in no way amused by this interruption, "What in Entei's name could you possibly want from me?!"

The pupil, scared, responded, "Um, there's a trainer here…he…want…he wants to fight…fight y-you."

"Well?! You know the rules! Go kick him to the curb."

"Well you see…sir….he already beat all of us, like, 10 min. ago…we've been waiting for you…sir." Ishmael struggled with every fiber of his being not to hurt this apparently unskilled trainer, why did he even think about taking this idiot under his wing?

"You mean to tell me that a lowly beginner somehow managed to defeat all three of you? Who trained you, Lance?" He chuckled at himself, Lance, what a pushover.

"Oh, he's no beginner sir, he's really good. And he's got an Absol, strong one too." The pupil spoke up for once, he was actually excited to see his arrogant teacher lose for once, but he would never tell Ishmael that.

The gym leader groaned, "Fine, bring him in…perhaps it would be good for you runts to learn how to battle with skill."

The pupil nodded and scuttled through the doors, more than relieved that he wasn't a victim of Ishmael's anger today. After all this was over, he really needed a new job, or at least a well-deserved vacation.

Jason was ecstatically petting Absol, celebrating yet another victory at the Ishtale gym. The body count was now three, and all that was left was Ishmael. Shinx and Pichu, though somewhat unaware of the events at hand, decided to join in the party and began chasing each other in circles.

"Good job Shadow! This gym leader isn't gonna be much of a problem for you is it?"

His Pokémon smiled, "SOL!"

Rhea hugged him, "We can celebrate later honey, because right now you've got a badge to win!"

Jason stared towards the ominous-looking doors looming in front of him, on the other side, his challenger was waiting. Jason was eager to earn his first badge, any nervousness he had fluttering in his stomach melted away when he looked at his Absol.

He smiled, "Ok, let's go see a man about a Gust Badge."

Rhea Jumped with excitement and charged through the doors, more than startling the self-absorbed leader standing on the other side of the arena.

Ishmael sweat dropped, is it seriously a girl?!

"Prepare yourself!" She exclaimed eagerly, "Jason Bailey is in the building and here to claim victory!"

She ran back to her embarrassed-looking boyfriend, smiled and said, "I know you can do it, Pichu and I are cheering for you!"

Ishmael laughed, "Aww how cute, so you're the "amazing trainer" I've been hearing so much about?"

Jason smirked, "Yeah, and apparently you're the self-absorbed gym leader who is obviously way too confident in his abilities." Absol smiled, just like his master to start with the verbal abuse.

Ishmael flared, this puny challenger dare to insult him. "No one talks to Ishmael like that!" Jason glared evilly at his challenger.

"Well, I just did, so you obviously don't garner as much respect as you wish you could. Now, about that Gust badge…"

Ishmael roared, "You insignificant little punk!" He grabbed a pokeball from his belt and threw it towards the ground, "Staraptor! Let's teach this beginner a lesson!" And sure enough, a Staraptor flew out of the orb and stood, poised and ready to attack.

Jason, clearly unphased by this foe, simply spoke, "Shadow…" His Absol nodded and stepped out onto the arena. He began running towards the bird Pokémon, picking up speed until he smashed into the creature with extreme force. Staraptor, though hurt, stood tall and prepared to retaliate.

The battle for the gust badge was on.


	3. The Lovely Lunar Rocket

Ishmael became furious, "Staraptor! Don't let him hit you like that, use Fly!"

The bird Pokémon obeyed and soared effortlessly into the air. Ishmael smirked, there was no way this puny trainer could hit him now. Jason, however, seemed relatively unaffected by Staraptor's sudden change in elevation.

"Shadow," Jason ordered "Use Extremespeed to launch off that wall, hit it square in the chest." The Absol nodded and sped off.

"You do realize," Spat Ishmael "that when I use fly, you won't be able to reach my Staraptor with that wimpy little Absol, right?" Jason smiled.

"You do realize," Mocked a very happy looking Jason "That your Staraptor is currently falling from the sky as we speak, right?" A confused Ishmael looked up and witnessed with a gasp as his precious Staraptor came crashing down in front of him, knocked out. He glared at Jason, who was busy congratulating his Absol on a successful victory; he was really starting to dislike this kid.

"A clever move, beginner, but you're not done yet." Ishmael smiled and tossed another red and white ball onto the arena. The orb popped open and released a Ninjask. Jason pulled out his pokedex and pulled up the enemy Pokémon's file:

_Pokémon #291:_ _Ninjask, the Ninja Pokémon. Ninjask is said to be able to evade any attack. Ninjask moves around at such a high speed that it cannot be seen, even while its crying can be clearly heard. For that reason, this Pokémon was long believed to be invisible._

Jason frowned; this wasn't going to be a cakewalk anymore. He looked at his Absol, "Alright Shadow, this guy won't be easy to hit, so don't stop attacking. I don't care what you do just keep up the pressure and tire him out until you can get a hit in, ok?" Shadow nodded at his master and grinned. Within seconds, the Absol was off and unleashed all he could into the Ninjask.

Ishmael yelled, "Keep dodging Ninjask! Wait for it to wear out!"

Ninjask began to effortlessly avoid everything the Disaster Pokémon tossed at it, attack after attack after attack all proved pointless, it was just too fast. Before Shadow could make another strike, the Ninjask sped behind him and whacked him with one of its claws. Shadow was knocked back towards Jason; he jumped back next to his master and looked at him with a worried face, Jason frowned.

Ishmael was overcome with glee, "You see?! I told you Ishmael can't be defeated! We're almost through here Ninjask…"

From the sidelines, a very excited Rhea yelled, "Come on Jason! I've seen you get out of tighter situations before!"

Jason knelt down to his Absol's level and whispered, "I think we should go to our last resort…what do you think buddy?" Shadow nodded at Jason.

"Sol!" he exclaimed excitedly, Jason smiled.

"Then why don't we charge it up!" Shadow obeyed and planted his four legs rigidly against the ground and began to charge his favorite special move, Lunar Rocket.

The story behind the discovery of the Lunar Rocket is quite interesting. About 4 months after Jason received Shadow for his 6th birthday, he was watching the historic battle between Ash Ketchum and the current Pokémon Master of the time. After watching Ash barley pull of a victory with his Pikachu's Volt Tackle, he wanted to teach his Absol to do the same. Completely oblivious to the fact that and Absol cannot learn that type of move, Jason tried and tried to get his Pokémon to use Volt Tackle. During an attempt in a nearby forest one night, he once again coaxed his Absol to try and generate electricity; instead, Shadow suddenly zoomed off at immeasurable speeds in a trail of pure white light completely obliterating the foliage and rocks in its path. Shocked, Jason ran into the forest after his best friend and found him, surprised, but very energetic. As the years passed, the two slowly learned to master and use it as a powerful last move in case they were in a pickle, and now was one of those times.

"Soooooooooooooooooooool…." Shadow began to channel his inner energy, as he did, a bright white aura began to creep up his legs.

"Sooooooooooooool…" The aura began to envelop his entire body, covering his tail and slowly wrapping around his head, the light was so bright that only Jason, who was used to it, could stare at it directly. The bright stream of white reach the top of the creature's head and met at the tip of his nose until the Absol was completely enshrouded in light.

"Sol!" Shadow exclaimed, he was ready to strike.

Jason nodded, "Do it."

The disaster Pokémon, who was more than happy to wipe the floor with this over-sized bug's carcass, thrust a paw forward and thrust out his chest. The entire room was engulfed in luminosity. Ishmael and his Ninjask were rendered blind, and as the light faded all they could make out was the image of a stream of light charging at them with speeds that could rival a fighter jet. Before the arrogant gym leader had time to react, the Light-enveloped Absol smashed into his Pokémon, and for a second time seemed to stop. Ishmael couldn't see again, and things seemed to stop moving. One second he saw an Absol charging at his ninjask and the next, he was lying outside. Ishmael looked up to see a huge hole in the wall that was behind him only seconds ago. To his side was ninjask, out cold and quite damaged. He managed to get up and saw the Absol, quite content with the damage it had done, walking towards his master, smoke still steaming off of its black and white body. The gym leader felt movement in his jacket and looked down as a Shinx popped out, a gust badge I it's mouth. It spoke a muffled "Shi!" and ran towards Jason, excited to have completed its mission. Jason smirked toward the bewildered leader.

"I told you," He said smugly, "you're way too confident in your abilities, though there are some trainers behind me who might not be much of a threat, all fingers crossed." And with that, he left, a Gust Badge in hand.

In order to celebrate, Jason and Rhea dropped their Pokémon off at the daycare for a night of grooming and rest. Meanwhile, the two teens took a walk in the cool night air towards the Ishtale Pier. As she closed her eyes to take a deep, relaxed breath Rhea jumped in shock when a blindfold was wrapped around her eyes.

"Jason?! What are you doing?"

"Shh, don't worry, we'll be there soon, but I have a surprise for you." She felt his hand grab hers as he led her to places unknown.

"Oh sweet Suicune," she giggled to herself "I hope I'm not in love with a rapist."

After about 5 minutes of walking, blind walking, they stopped. Rhea could hear the sound of crashing waves and the soothing cry of winguls and pelippers; they must be at the pier.

"Jason where are we?"

Rhea took off her blindfold to see Jason, holding a pokeball with a ribbon tied on the top in his hand. She raised an eyebrow, "A pokeball, really?"

Jason fake pouted, "Open it." She took the ball from his hand and pressed the button to release her present. The light poured out and before long Rhea was cuddling a fluffy little Eevee in her arms.

"Oh my Mew, an Eevee?!" She exclaimed, overfilled with joy. Jason smiled as the creature cooed and purred in Rhea's embrace. "How did you get one?!"

"I bought it at the Pokémon adoption center using the prize money I got from the Ishtale gym. Don't let this thing fool you, she's got some kick." Tears welled up in Rhea's eyes and began to run down her delicate cheek, Jason became worried.

"Is something wrong? Do you not like it? I could go get another one, if you wan-" His rambling ceased when the grabbed his shoulder and kissed him.

"I love you Jason."

The Pokémon trainer gagged, "More melodrama! Lifeguard! Help!" Rhea smiled, but nonetheless punched him in the arm, again. They walked back to the daycare center.

Upon their return, the trainers found all of the Pokémon playing happily. All except Shadow, who had been busy considering the multiple ways he could escape this hell. Oh, how happy he was to see Jason again, the Absol quickly ran to his beloved master.

"Hey there boy, you miss us?" Jason pet Shadow as Rhea sent Eevee off to go meet her new family. Nurse Joy walked in from the back room, carefully balancing some evolutionary stones in her arms.

"Oh hi, so nice to see you all again, If you'll just give me one sec-"

The nurse tripped, and 2 moon stones and a thunder stone dropped and rolled into the "Poke-Play" area. Jason's Shinx felt obliged to help, so it happily grabbed a thunder stone in its mouth and pranced over to nurse joy.

Jason yelled, "Shinx! Wait-" But he was too late, with one last confused "Shi?" the Pokémon began to glow, it was evolving. Moments later, a Luxio stood in its place, still smiling joyfully as if nothing had happened


	4. By Dawn's Early Light

"Luxio, the Spark Pokémon. It is capable of communicating through spark transmission on its front paws." Jason's pokedex blipped off and the trainer looked down at his newly-evolved companion. Luxio simply smiled and looked at Jason.

"Lux! Luxio!" Rhea, meanwhile, was occupied with trying to calm down Nurse Joy, who seemed to be having a panic attack.

"I'm so sorry for dropping the thunder stone! I can make it up to you, I'll get another Shinx, yeah, I'll call Nurse Joy in Cinderto-"

"-Relax Nurse Joy," Rhea put a friendly arm around the Pokémon caretaker's arm and smile. "You took good care of our Pokémon, thank you for that. Accidents happen! Plus, we'll be leaving soon so you won't have to worry about us." Jason jumped into the conversation, obviously excited about this strange turn of events.

"Man, Luxio is freakin' cool! And I think Shadow likes him." It was true, the grumpy Absol seemed to like this somewhat tougher, and slightly more docile version of the annoying overly peppy blue speck he had pondered eating only moments ago. Eevee went to inspect this sparkly creature, which was almost the same size as itself. Almost upon eye contact, the two Pokémon became friends and started to chase each other. Absol frowned, never mind. He went to go join his master and the other humans.

"I guess it's time for us to go," Said Jason, almost regrettably. "We need to keep moving if we want to be ready for the Tournament." Nurse Joy smiled as the trainers returned their Pokémon and prepared to leave.

"Well, I wish you the best of luck Jason and Rhea! Please visit again soon." They waved their goodbyes and were off to Tallthorn Town to earn Jason's next badge.

In order to arrive at Tallthorn town, Jason and Rhea had to first cross through Everleaf Forest, while not very dangerous; the Forest was known for being extremely difficult to navigate without the proper tools. Many trainers have gotten lost and were forced to simply return home and buy a map, or give up on their training dreams. Jason had no such plans for his future, and bought a map from a local seller, who was more than happy to give him a discount, considering he was the first customer in weeks.

"So tell me Mister Pokémon Trainer," Joked Rhea in a mock-reporter tone as they walked through the forest, "Now that you've earned your first badge, what will you do now?" Jason, a sarcastic response already on his mind, stopped before he finished answering. He saw a girl off in the distance, looking very lost, and a little bit scared walking in circles. In her arms, a small Piplup was resting soundly despite the stress its holder seemed to be going through. Something about her looked familiar, but he wasn't completely sure.

"First, we're going to help that girl out." Jason walked off in her direction as Rhea trailed behind him, smiling at her boyfriend's friendliness. He tapped the distressed female on the shoulder, she whipped around, first quite scared, but her face quickly washed over with a look of relief.

"Oh thank Arceus someone found me, do you know where Tallthorn town is?" Jason smiled; he was always willing to help new trainers get ahead.

"You can come with us, we're headed in the same direction and I've got a map." The girl smiled.

"Thank you so much!" Rhea grinned warmly.

"It's really not a problem at all. By the way, I'm Rhea Whitepedal and this is my boyfriend Jason Bailey." The blue-haired female shook their hands.

"Nice to meet you all, my name's Dawn-", she stopped and bit her lip, hopefully they wouldn't recognize-"wait…Dawn, _The _Dawn!?"

Dawn sweatdropped, guess they did, she smiled and nodded at them. "Yeah, that's me, Dawnera Abigail Moreno, Poke-Coordinator extraordinaire!" Rhea and Jason tried to keep cool, though it proved very difficult.

"This is amazing," Rhea exclaimed

"You're such a legend!" added Jason. Dawn blushed. She was never good with fame.

After autographs and a one-sided game of 20 questions, the gang made their way through Everleaf forest and arrived at Tallthorn town. They found the area, known for its natural beauty and splendor, in complete chaos and ruin.

Building destroyed and aflame, local residents screaming and running for shelter, the town was in absolute disarray. Various Pokémon were running amok, wreaking havoc all over the once peaceful area.

"Holy crap, what's going on?!" Rhea asked. Jason didn't bother to ask questions and instead chose to take action. He bent down to give Shadow a command.

"Shadow, Run to the center of the town and attract all the rampaging Pokémon towards you!" Shadow obeyed and ran into Tallthorn square, which was actually an open battle arena. The gym leader loved to fight in the open air; unfortunately their career looks over about now.

Shadow reached the center of the arena and let out a cry that turned almost every head, and within seconds the Absol found himself surrounded by various Pokémon. All of them looked as normal as a Pokémon could get, except that there was a strange tint of purple around them, and they seemed more bloodthirsty than usual. Shadow became worried, but nonetheless held his ground, he could take them all. Jason, unable to get through to Shadow stood right outside the mob of ravenous Pokémon and yelled at his Absol.

"Shadow, protect!" Shadow nodded and conjured a protective shield around his body, Jason nodded. "Now use Perish Song!" Shadow opened his mouth and let forth a cry that took the form of a black mist that rose from his mouth; the mist moved out to enshroud all of the murderous creatures and dropped them like a heap of lead filled dominoes. The black vapor was unable to penetrate Shadow's defensive screen however, and it faded away, leaving the Disaster Pokémon standing, examining the mob of his vanquished foes with a smug sense of satisfaction. Jason ran to Shadow and hugged him.

"Good job Shadow." congratulated Rhea; she turned and looked at Jason. "I wonder why they were attacking the city." Jason looked as confused as she was, he shrugged.

"I told them too, that's why." The trio jumped at the voice and turned around to see a man standing about 10 feet away. The man was on the tall side, 6"2 or so, he looked frail but strong at the same time and bore long, pale-white hair that barley touched his shoulder. He had a black suit with black pants and boots on with a long white cape with black lines running through it almost at random draped over his shoulders. Behind him two younger looking men stood, dressed less ornately and much more generic compared to the man in front of them. The man smiled, "I really didn't need you to go knocking out all my Pokémon. That's really gonna ruin my whole day." Jason glared, this man wreaked of bad. "I will admit however your Absol is quite powerful; I don't find myself surprised when I say you could have been a match for me about…4 years ago." He chuckled to himself, he thought himself quite the comedian at times.

"And just why were you attacking this city mister "Big and Bad"!? Who are you guys?" Dawn inquired angrily. The mysterious man took a bow and smiled.

"My name is Dexter," He spoke with a calm but dark tone, the words spilling out of his mouth with a venomous fancy. ", and you three just incurred the wrath of Dialga's Chosen." Rhea almost couldn't contain laughter.

"Dialga's Chosen?!" She blurted, "No offense, but that's really pretty stupid. You're one of those weird cults huh? Nothing but a bunch of whack job you guys are!" Dexter glared at the teen, but ignored her comments.

"I see you have a bit of an attitude missy, but I'm not really here to deal with a bunch of kids. Perhaps we'll meet again, perhaps not, but you'd better hope we don't." As he finished his attempt at a cryptic threat, a strange creature appeared out of thin air right behind him. It looked like a bigger, much more powerful version of Shadow, but it had that same purplish tint around it. Dexter snapped his fingers and the creature began to glow. Moments later, with a loud "BOOM!" he and his grunts were gone along with the unconscious Pokémon.

"What was that all about?" Jason scratched his head as he asked.

"That guy was a real jerk!" Rhea frowned as she hugged her Eevee. Pichu, who had been hiding itself behind her long black hair now revealed itself, it breathed a sigh of relief and jumped down to play with Luxio again. As the group began to collect themselves, they noticed the residents of Tallthorn town coming out. They were carrying supplies and rebuilding the damage done, acting as if nothing huge had been lost. Dawn was deeply confused.

"What the heck? They're acting like nothing happened!" Dawn jumped when she felt a hand lightly tap her shoulder, the trio turned to see a woman. She looked friendly; aged in her 30-40's with long, light green hair and green and brown gardening dress on. She smiled in a motherly way at the three teens.

"Thank you so much for your help, please allow me to make it up to you."

Jason shook her hand, "My name's Jason Bailey, this is Shadow, my Absol and this is my girlfriend Rhea Whitepedal and you probably know about Dawn. Who are you?" The woman shook everyone's hand, even Shadow's, and kindly introduced herself.

"My name's Ivy, I'm the Tallthorn town Gym leader and I'm sure you have plenty of questions. Please join me for dinner tonight and I will gladly explain everything to you." The teenagers happily obliged.


	5. The Problem at Hand

As the gang enjoyed Ivy's homemade Leaf-Ladle soup around a small fire in her tree house, she sat down on a mat and began to explain. "As Rhea so vividly described earlier, Dialga's Chosen are a group of people who want to use the essence of time to exact revenge on and control the Earth." She spoke in a melancholy tone, almost as if she had pity for these people. Rhea was the first to ask a question.

"Why would they want revenge?" Ivy nodded, almost as if she expected this question.

"About…11 years ago there was a disaster that involved the entire Dragon Trio, I know Dawn was there, but you two were probably too young to remember the Dimensional Incidents." Jason perked up.

"No, I remember that! That was when Dialga and Palkia's dimensions crossed and they began to fight in this world over there territories territory, then a man named Zero tried to take control of Giratina as it attempted to calm down the other two. And all of it occurred because of the return of Arceus to exact revenge on the man who tried to withhold the Jewel of Life from it. I remember reading that Ash was there through all of it before he was a Pokémon master!" Ivy was clearly impressed with this.

"Wow, you sure read your Pokémon history!" Jason nodded happily. "Well, after Zero was defeated, it's safe to say he went even more insane. He was checked into an insane asylum and died there. But his nephew, that man you met before, had been close to Zero before the Giratina issue, and felt that his dear uncle was poorly treated. Dexter became violently angry at the word he lived in. After hearing about the time bending power of Dialga, became obsessed with using it to go to the past and stop his uncle's defeat and rule the earth with him." The three were deathly silent, this was a serious problem.

"But," Dawn asked. "The Spear Pillar is back in Sinnoh, why would they be all the way over here in Matroh?"

"There's a cave, somewhere near Crystalpoint Village. Legend has it that the rocks and earth in the back of this cave are irradiated with residue from the climactic battle between Dialga and Palkia thousands of years ago."

"So, what does that mean?" Jason was punched in the arm before he could finish his pointless question.

"It's all myth, but it is said that if someone manages to take one of the rocks, they will be able to have the power to control time or space. Nobody knows if it's true or not. Be we have reason to believe it is."

"Why is that?" Rhea inquired, Ivy looked up at the stars through the small hole in her roof.

"Because it's impenetrable, only a legendary Pokémon is said to be capable of destroying the boulder in front of the cave." Ivy looked back at the captivated teenagers. "That's why he caught Abclysm." Jason cocked an eyebrow.

"Abclysm, was that the strange Pokémon Dexter had with him?" Ivy nodded.

"Most likely, yes. Abclysm is the Pokémon of balance; it roams around the entire earth, capable of sensing disasters that would disrupt the entire balance of life on Earth and does its best to prevent the disaster. It evolves from Absol." Jason, confused, checked his pokedex.

"But, it doesn't say that Absols can-"Ivy smiled.

"An Absol will only evolve into an Abclysm when one of the 20 currently on Earth dies." Jason looked at Shadow, who was sound asleep along with Luxio, Eevee and Pichu. Dawn's Piplup was asleep in her arms, nestled comfortably against her chest.

"How can you tell which Absol will be the one that evolves?" asked Rhea.

Ivy responded, "An Absol that is born to be an Abclysm will have much more acute senses, it can sense much more drastic tragedies, such as a death or worldwide disaster. It will be much more powerful than usual, and contains the essence of the moon." Jason looked worriedly at Shadow, still asleep. He thought about the Lunar Rocket.

"That kinda sounds like Shadow." Ivy looked inquisitively at the Absol in the corner.

"Hmm, well if he is, let's hope nothing happens to the Abclysm Dexter captured." Jason nodded in agreement. Rhea became impatient.

"So, what are we supposed to do to stop these guys?" Ivy stood up and took everyone's empty dishes. She started washing them as the teens prepared their sleeping bags.

"The only reason their here is because they want to use Jirachi to open the cave, he came here, to Everleaf forest after the Groudon incident. I'm sure you know about that too Jason," Jason laughed and nodded. "That's what I wanted to ask you about," her face grew more serious. "Tomorrow I need you to go find Jirachi, and bring him to me. I've been taking care of him, so he trusts me and he'll be safer here." The three agreed. "Good! Thanks a lot; I'll fill you in on the details tomorrow. But you're gonna need your rest, come see me in the morning."


	6. The Everleaf Encounter

A peculiar scent awakened Jason from his slumber; he wiped the fatigue from his eyes and pulled himself out of his sleeping bag.

"Well good morning sunshine!" chirped Rhea as she emerged from the tent already fully clothed and prepared for the task to come. "You missed breakfast, I saved some for you…but Shadow ate it all." Jason looked at his Absol, who was resting next to him. He laughed and packed up his bag. Dawn walked out of the tree house with Ivy right behind her.

"Well," laughed the coordinator. "It's about time sleeping beauty woke up, we've got a lot to do buddy, let's move!" Jason nodded sheepishly.

"I guess we should hurry before Dexter and his cronies get to Jirachi, huh?" Ivy nodded and walked back into her tree house. Moments later she emerged with a map and a pokeball in hand.

"Here," gestured the gym leader. "Take this map; I've marked where Jirachi can usually be found." She handed the map and pokeball to Rhea. "And take my Leafeon, Jirachi knows her and will probably trust you more if you tell him that Ivy sent you." The three teens thanked the woman and headed back for the forest. "…Good Luck." she whispered to herself.

Everleaf Forest seem to glow with a new form of radiance now that Jirachi was known to live there, Rhea the self-appointed map reader walked them through the forest for about an hour before Jason began to doubt his girlfriend's sense of direction.

"Rhea," he whined. "I don't think we're going the right way, and my feet hurt." Shadow nodded in agreement with the aching trainer. Rhea turned her head towards Jason, apparently not very happy with his remarks.

"I know where we're going Hun! We just…need to take a few steps back…is all…" Jason sighed, women can be so stubborn. So they backtracked and walked in circles and realized which way the map was supposed to point and backtracked some more until Rhea stopped in a small clearing. "It says…" she spoke, almost to herself. "…that Jirachi lives around…here…." She darted her eyes back and forth between the map and the sunlit ground in the clearing until Leafeon let itself out of the ball in Dawn's hand. The grass Eevee walked into the center of the open patch and let forth a small cry. Moments later, Jirachi appeared in front of the Leafeon and began to dance around it, happy to see an old friend.

Jason was blown away. "Wow, I never thought I'd see Jirachi in my lifetime!" The wish Pokémon looked up in surprise at this strange voice and, now aware of the humans' presence, hid itself behind the grass Pokémon in fear. Rhea squatted down as if calling over a small animal.

"It's ok Jirachi, Ivy sent us. We're here to help you!" Jirachi peered from behind Leafeon.

"She…did?" Rhea nodded and the legendary Pokémon slowly came out of hiding. It remained cautious. "Well…what do you want with me?!" Now it was Jason's turn to try and calm Jirachi down.

"A bunch of bad guys want to capture you and use you to do some evil…thing, I'm really not sure exactly. But we need to take you back to Tallthorn town where Ivy can keep you safe." Jirachi flew in Jason's face, the look of caution now replaced with a vivid complexion of arrogance.

"Yeah, those stupid Dialga worshiping freaks, right? Please, those hussies couldn't take me if they tried-"Just as he finished his self-confident sentence, a dark-colored pokeball flew right past Jirachi and hit Leafeon smack in the face, sucking the grass Eeveelution into its grip. The trio gasped as they watched Dexter stride out of the bushes and into the clearing, pick up the dark pokeball, and release the Leafeon. The creature looked the same, only it was now enshrouded in that same purple aura and contained those same soulless eyes that the other Pokémon had. He smiled in glee at his new capture, but was somewhat confused when he noticed the three annoying teens from earlier standing there with Jirachi, were these kids following him?

"Um, excuse me children." He spoke, mock-friendly. "I do believe you are in possession of my Jirachi there, could you kindly give him back?" Rhea simply glared at him.

"You monster, what have you done to Leafeon?!" Dexter smirked.

"Ah yes, the beauty of the shadow ball, it catches any Pokémon without fail and turns them into my completely obedient, totally emotionless killing machines. A wonderful invention really..." Jason gritted his teeth; he had had enough of this psycho.

"Shadow," The trainer ordered. "Use Extremespeed, grab that shadow ball!" Shadow nodded and dashed off towards the leader, within seconds the Absol snatched the ball out of a very surprised looking Dexter's hand. It ran back to Jason and crushed the ball between its front paws. Dexter glared at Jason.

"Oh no, you seem to have taken the shadow ball from me, oh well, I have hundreds more. Leafeon, I want you to get me Jirachi, grab him with bite and bring him here." The Pokémon obeyed without question and jumped at the wish Pokémon, teeth bared and mouth open to strike. Just as Leafeon reached him however, Jirachi reached out a hand and placed it lightly on the grass Pokémon's head. The Leafeon stopped in her tracks and floated there with Jirachi, almost as if she was being held up in the air. Jirachi closed his eyes and began to glow a bright blue, the aqua-colored light eventually enveloped Leafeon as well. The wish Pokémon spoke.

"Be calm Leafeon. Be calm." As he finished speaking, the light subsided, leaving Jirachi and Leafeon, confused but nonetheless back to normal, standing there along with Shadow, Pichu and Piplup. They all faced the extremely unhappy Dexter. "Sorry pal," chided Jirachi, arms crossed and a smile on his face. "You've lost this round; you might as well give up trying to catch me!" Dexter grunted, these kids are really starting to piss him off. He shrugged.

"I thought I would at least try, but hey…" An Abclysm again teleported behind him, purple aura, void of emotion. It began to glow along with Dexter, who grinned evilly. "Maybe Rayquaza will do a better job…"

~_WOOSH~_

He vanished.

"I hate that guy…" Jason growled. Rhea patted him on the shoulder as they started to return the town to bring Jirachi to Ivy.

"Don't worry babe, without Jirachi he won't be able to get into that cave or whatever. It's ok for now." Jason nodded haphazardly.

They arrived back at Tallthorn town about an hour later, the locals were quick to rebuild and the town looked almost in order. They went to Ivy's tree house, but she wasn't there, instead they found a note.

_Jason, Rhea, and Dawn,_

_ If you're reading this it means Dialga's Chosen didn't kill you. Congratulations! I'm at the center arena right now. Please meet me there. Thanks a bunch! 3_

_ , Ivy Whithermore_

They arrived at the town center to see Ivy standing on the other side of the arena; she took a deep breath of fresh air as the trio went to meet up with her, Rhea returned Leafeon and Jirachi smiled at Ivy happily. The gym leader smiled at Jason.

"Thank you for saving Jirachi, but I do recall you telling me that you plan on joining the Master's Tournament this year, right?" Jason nodded. "Well then Mr. Bailey…" Ivy took out two pokeballs from her bag and tossed them to the ground, releasing a Torterra and Leafeon from the orbs. The Pokémon stood ready for battle as the leader of the Tallthorn Gym smirked. "…Looks like you're gonna need a Prick Badge."


	7. Back To Business

Jason smiled, nothing like a nice gym battle to get his mind off of the day's events.

"Shadow, Luxio." The Pokémon nodded and stepped onto the arena, Shadow looked at his partner. Now was the Absol's chance to see what this Luxio was made of. The four Pokémon faced each other, most likely analyzing their opponents. Jason was doing the same.

_Hmmm, _he thought_, Leafeon is probably Ivy's first Pokémon, considering the level of attachment I'm noticing, and is therefore her overall strongest team member I'm guessing. She'll most likely use the Torterra to support with moves that will throw me off while the Leafeon deals the more crippling and quick blows. I won't be able to take out that Leafeon effectively unless Ivy thinks I'm focusing on Torterra. That's what the average trainer at my level would do. _

But Jason knew he was far from average. He looked at Ivy and smiled.

"Your move Ms. Whithermore." She didn't bother to respond and immediately issued her commands.

"Torterra, use Earthquake while Leafeon vine whips the Absol!" Her Pokémon charged into action and within seconds, ripples of earth stampeded towards Jason's team. He quickly warned his Pokémon.

"Both of you jump over the shockwaves now!" They jumped into the air as the waves passed under them and faded into small vibrations by the time they reached the humans' feet. Jason glanced at Ivy and noticed a smirk on her face, his face washed over with shock as he realized the source of her enjoyment. _The vine whip! Shadow's helpless in mid-air, that's just what she wanted me to-_"Shadow, quick, use Double Team!" The Absol, noticing what his master saw, sped up his body's vibrations until he was rendered nearly invisible, at that moment a long green vine whisked right through the untouchable outline of the disaster Pokémon at incredible speeds. Having missed its target, Leafeon retracted the vine back at itself and grumbled. Ivy giggled under her breath.

"Well done Jason, I was hoping you'd pick that up. Unfortunately this is where the easy part ends. I will have to defeat you now, you realize that?" Jason, unphased by her attempts to demoralize him, simply ignored her and issued his attack orders.

"Luxio, use thunder, aim for Torterra's leg, Shadow I want you to use Tackle once you see an opportunity." Ivy looked curiously at Jason, those orders were rather vague, there's something he's planning. Luxio charged a volt of electricity and shot the bolt out of his tail. The lightning struck the large turtle's foot and it reeled back in pain, revealing its weak underbelly. Ivy smirked, nice try Jason.

"Sorry Pokémon trainer, but Torterra's not going down that easy. Leafeon, use helping hand, fix his paw before that Absol strikes." Jason smiled, the trap has been sprung.

"There's your chance Shadow, tackle Leafeon!" Ivy blinked, _did he say Leafeo_- but it was too late. By the time Ivy could react, Shadow had already landed full force into the grass Pokémon, Leafeon fell backwards, unconscious. Ivy was gleefully entertained; she had never been tricked like that before.

"Not bad Jason, not bad at all…" She congratulated. "But it's not quite over yet." The gym leader returned Leafeon and tossed out another pokeball. The beam of white poured out and took the form of a Sudowoodo. Jason chuckled.

"Send out what you like, you're just prolonging the time until I beat you." Ivy shook her head.

"Don't get too confident Jason; I might still have a few things up my sleeve." Again Jason ignored her attempts at discouragement.

"Luxio, I want you to start charging some electricity around your paws and hold it there, ok?" Luxio was more than happy to obey its master and it began to generate a static field around its front paws. Jason nodded at Shadow, "I want you to use night claw on Sudowoodo, but see if you can't catch it off guard first ok?" The Absol nodded and began to run towards the tree-like Pokémon, paws glowing with a purple darkness. Ivy, not willing to fall for the same trick, prepped her Torterra for another earthquake and focused her attention on Sudowoodo.

"Sudowoodo, use protec-"

"-Everyone, hit Torterra now!" Shadow had reached his intended target, but instead jumped off the Pokémon and flew towards the grassy turtle, at that same instance Luxio came charging in the same direction towards Torterra. Ivy fumed, why was she dropping the ball today? The attacks hit their target with extreme force and Torterra was rendered K.O.'d. Ivy, extremely frustrated, returned her defeated Torterra to its pokeball. Jason was laughing. "Come on Ivy, you're holding back on me. Let's see what you've really got!" The gym leader took a deep breath, this would be her last chance.

"Very well then Jason, if that's what you want then fine. Come at me with your best shot!" The trainer gladly obliged.

"Shadow, be careful, she's got something planned. I want you to stay on the defensive while I use Luxio to check things out ok?" His Absol nodded and stood his ground while Jason turned towards his newest partner and spoke just light enough so that Ivy couldn't hear. "Ok Luxio, I want you to do a simple quick attack, but stop and run back if you see any trouble ok?" Luxio agreed.

"Lux! Luxio!" Jason pet the electric Pokémon.

"Alright then, use quick attack!" Luxio dashed towards Ivy's last Pokémon. The gym leader bit her lip, _that's it Luxio…keep coming…_, as soon as the Pokémon was close enough to Sudowoodo, the gym leader made her move.

"Now!" She ordered. "Giga Drain!" Sudowoodo reached out one of its branch-like hands and shot out a needle from one of the shrubs. The thorn landed directly into Luxio's right paw and started sucking energy out of the spark Pokémon and into the grass-type. Luxio tried to grab it out with its teeth, but the drain was far too exhausting. Jason knew he had to act before Luxio fainted.

"Shadow, go help get that thorn out of Luxio, hurry!" The Absol nodded and ran over the ailing creature. Ivy laughed.

"Bad move Jason, bad move. Sudowoodo use sucker punch!" The tree-like Pokémon ran towards the two Pokémon and clanked Shadow across the face with its glowing right branch. Shadow reeled back and quickly found it difficult to stand, he couldn't let it end now, and he couldn't let Jason down. Ivy smiled, "You have to be smarter than that Mr. Bailey, but it looks like its far too late." Jason ran over to his Absol and started to stroke its fur.

"You ok buddy?" Shadow struggled to look up at its master and nodded. Jason looked at Ivy with a look she had never seen before. Something that, in all her years of battling, was completely new in this trainer's eyes. She saw anger, not the "I hate you you're a horrible person"-type anger, but that burning passion that one only gets when someone thy care about is hurt. And Jason couldn't stand seeing his Absol hurt. He stood up, brushed a lock of hair from his face and, surprisingly, smiled.

"Oh Ivy," He started, curiously non-chalant. "When did you plan on telling me about that berry you had stashed away in Sudowoodo's hand?" Ivy's eyes widened in shock, _he must have seen it when Sudowoodo was attacking. _Jason's grin reached ear to ear, he had her. "Shadow, use giga impact!" The Absol used what was left of its strength to jump high into the air. "Luxio, now!" The spark Pokémon stood and revealed to the shocked Gym Leader the Oran berry in its mouth, using a spark of electricity it shot the berry right into Shadow's mouth. The berry quickly came into effect as a renewed energy washed over the Absol. "Finish it off Shadow, Giga Impact!" Shadow pointed itself towards the Sudowoodo and shot itself like a bullet in his direction, Ivy closed her eyes and took out Sudowoodo's pokeball, she knew it was over. The Absol collided full force with the grass-type, knocking it out almost instantly. With a sigh, the Gym-leader returned her Pokémon and walked over towards Jason, who was congratulating the duo on a successful victory. She shook his hand.

"I must say, well done Jason Bailey. Never have I had such a battle, you are truly a remarkable trainer." She shook his hand and pulled out the Tallthorn town Prick Badge. "I am happy to present to you the Prick Badge. Congratulations." Jason happily took the badge from Ivy; he smiled as the small thorn-shaped badge gleamed in his hand under the sunlight.

"Thank you Ivy, you put up a good fight." Rhea hugged, rather crushed, Jason with powerful enthusiasm.

"Good job Hun! We're that much closer to the league!" Dawn patted him on the back.

"Not bad Bailey, not bad." Jason put the badge in his case, it rested comfortably next to the Gust badge, almost as if it belonged there. Now only 6 empty spaces remained. Jirachi floated off Dawn's shoulder and hugged Ivy.

"I'm glad to see you're safe Jirachi." She looked at the three teens as they packed their things to leave. "Thank you for all you've done, I'll keep Jirachi safe from those crazies." Jirachi looked at Ivy, a melancholy complexion on his face.

"Umm…Ivy?" he said, reluctantly.

The gym leader became worried, "What's wrong?"

"Actually…I think I'd be a lot safer if I traveled with them…" Jason spit out his water.

"Wait…seriously?!" Ivy attempted to protest, but then nodded.

"No, he's right. If Jirachi stays on the move, it will be harder for Dialga's chosen to track him down. Plus, you three will protect him much more effectively than I ever could." Jirachi gave one last hug to the teary-eyed gym leader and took a seat back on Dawn's shoulder.

"Don't worry Ivy," Comforted Rhea. "We'll take good care of Jirachi, those whack jobs won't get anywhere near him, I promise." Ivy, tears still running down her cheeks, nodded and hugged Rhea.

"Thank you so all so much, I'll see you three again once Jason is the new Pokémon master" Jason blushed and everyone laughed at his embarrassment.

After waving goodbye and another round of crying from Ivy, the three teenagers were on their way again. Now with the legendary wish Pokémon Jirachi by their side. Next stop, Voltrire City!


	8. Why They're in Matroh

The path to Voltrire city was not as much difficult to trek as it was long and strenuous. As it turned out, the path was simply a straight dirt road through the other side of Everleaf forest, which proved all the more demoralizing thanks to its sheer length. About an hour into the walk Jason began moaning, as did Shadow.

"I think we should make camp soon, it's getting late, and my feet hurt." He was right; the sun had already relinquished its dominion over the sky to the moon, which had brought the night along with it. And his feet did indeed ache something terrible. Rhea looked at her boyfriend, almost with affectionate pity, and winked.

"Mmkay, _you_ can go get the firewood while _we_ go find a spot." Jason opened his mouth to object, but the look in Rhea's eye forced it closed almost magically. He sulked little and walked off into the forest, Shadow right behind him. "Alrighty then, let's go find somewhere to set up." Dawn agreed and they walked into the trees nearby, it didn't take long before they found a small clearing by the road and quickly pitched tents and set up sleeping bags. After about 30 minutes, Jason returned with a heap of firewood in his arms, Shadow was next to him, carrying a single log in his mouth.

Dawn laughed, "Shadow didn't want to do all the work?" Jason sighed and looked at his Pokémon.

"No," he sneered. "_Shadow_ developed a taste for tree sap." The girls looked at the Absol carefully and noticed he was happily sucking on the log and burst into a fit of laughter. Shadow had no idea why the humans were laughing at his newly acquired dietary habit, so he went into Jason's tent to finish off his snack in private. Outside, Jason had just finished placing the logs into a small pile. Rhea called Pichu, who was busy trying to zap a caterpie. The Pokémon bounded over to her master and jumped on Rhea's lap.

"Hey Pichu," Rhea said to her Pokémon. Pichu looked up, a quizzical look on her face. "Could you get a fire going for us?" The electric mouse agreed happily and shot a small spark into the mass of logs, igniting them almost instantly. Rhea thanked Pichu and it ran back to finish torturing its victim, discouraged to find that the caterpie had escaped. The Pokémon shrugged and ran over to Luxio, who was sleeping.

Once everyone was settled in, all eyes shot towards Dawn. She looked confused for a moment, and then registered what was required of her.

'All right all right, I guess I have some explaining to do huh?" The couple nodded fervently, she blushed.

Jason started the Q&A session, "So, you know Ash right?" Dawn smiled.

"I hope I should know him, he's my fiancé." Mouths fell open.

"Wait, seriously?" Rhea exclaimed. Dawn smiled proudly and flashed her ring; it was a small pokeball, black and white with diamonds around the side.

"Yup, 24 carats of pure love right there! He proposed after he won the title." The next question was brought about.

"So, you were there at the tournament that year?" Only Jason would ask this.

"Of course, he was just my boyfriend at the time. It was so amazing though, after all we went through. To see him there, fighting as if nothing else mattered, it was great. It was everything he had been dreaming to be, and Pikachu finishing the whole battle with a classic volt tackle was a true testament to Ash." Her eyes sparkled, as did Jason's.

"So," Rhea started. "What brings you this far back into Matroh?"

"Well, I'm not exaggerating when I say Ash has been getting, well, tired. Sick and tired of the trainers who simply strive to make their Pokémon the "Strongest" and try to win battles against him with sheer force. He's been yearning for a trainer who fights with heart and skill, one who actually has a connection with his Pokémon and can defeat him. He asked me to travel Matroh in search of trainers who have that potential and help them become strong enough to defeat him one day. And Jason, I think that's you." The trainer beamed.

"You really think I have what it takes?" Dawn nodded encouragingly.

"Most definitely, I already told him about you. He's thoroughly impressed Jason." Rhea smiled and kissed Jason's cheek.

"Look at that Hun, two badges and you've already got the Ash Ketchum's attention!" Jason was ecstatic. Dawn stood up and made her way towards her tent, yawning.

"Well then" She started "It's getting late, why don't we hit the hay. We've got a big day tomorrow!" The teens nodded and went towards their sleeping quarters. After exchanging goodnights and calling in Pokémon, all three were sleeping soundly within moments.

All except Shadow, who stood up and walked outside of Jason's tent into the cool night air. He looked up into the stars, a complexion of pain and worry twisted on his face. Shadow's senses were running wild; he could feel, almost see so much hardship in the future for these humans. He sensed the hurting of Abclysm. He could hear Rayquaza's cry, as it writhed in some sort of ensnared torture. The Absol cringed as he felt even the emotions of Arceus. The Alpha-Pokémon shuddered in anger, as it watched its world slowly coming to an end.


End file.
